


Primal Fear

by WastelandSpectre (ClockworksApprentice)



Series: Stories of 2018 [12]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: AU, F/M, Red X!Jason, Villain!Jason, Young!Villains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-07-15 14:35:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16065161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClockworksApprentice/pseuds/WastelandSpectre
Summary: Jason Todd, never raised by Batman, grows to become Red X. With a few other younger villains by his side, they are unstoppable. But for someone like Jonathan Crane, there is always room for improvement. Breaking into Mount Justice to steal one of Raven's spell books, Jonathan works to become stronger - scarier - only to become the one known as Scarebeast.Commission for tthemanwithmanyauandheadcannons (tumblr)





	Primal Fear

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tthemanwithmanyauandheadcannons](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=tthemanwithmanyauandheadcannons).



> Jason is Red X  
> Cheetah, Giganta, Copperhead, Jason/Red X, Firefly, Scarecrow, Nuclear Sis, and Blackfire are all 16 - 17

**Commisioned by: Tthemanwithtoomanyheadcanonsandaus**

**Requested:**

Scarecrow turning into Scarebeast

Featuring:

Villain Red X!Jason

Young!Villains

**Requested Word Count:** 8,000

**Final Word Count:** 8,027

**Note:** Jason’s contacts in his phone are as follow: Hot Ass (Blackfire), Kitten (Cheetah), Big Sister (Giganta), Baby Sister (Nuclear Sis), Slytherin (Copperhead), Garfield (Firefly)

 

* * *

 

**Primal Fear**

Mount Justice, once used as the location for the Justice League, now serves its purpose as a sanctuary for the young heroes, but how long will the false sense of security there last? How long will it be until they truly see fear for what it is and will fall like the mortals that they are? 

 

Jonathan idly fiddles with one of his gas bombs in his palm, his other hand resting at the others at his hip. He can easily toss it into the air ducts, taken them by surprise, watch them scramble around like they mere rats they are. He can relish in the sounds of their screams, but it wouldn’t change the fact that one person he wants to scare, the one who holds no fear for him, will be there, standing among the chaos as if it’s something she lives through each day - as if he’s nothing more than a pest that she has to shoo away. 

 

Well, he’ll show her. He will watch her  _ squirm.  _ He wonders what Raven looks like when she’s afraid. Will she scream? Or will she be so overtaken by fear that when her mouth opens, no sound comes out? She scared him before, revealing herself to him like the she-devil she is, and it will not happen again. She will kneel before him in fright if it’s the last thing she ever does. And the idea that it might makes him  _ giddy.  _

 

He slips through the shadows and into a room that opens with too much ease. The cave is surprisingly empty, but he won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. There’s no one to stop him, he suspects that it has something to do with the ongoing world-destroying crisis that that Light group Luther is apart of has conducted. But it’s not anything unusual, at this point he’s surprised that they’re even surprised at some cataclysmic event as if it doesn’t happen every week.

 

He still expected more security, even with Nuclear Sis’ hesitant help. Though he firmly believes she didn’t think he could actually pull this off. He expected a lot more, really, but he’s not Red X.He doesn’t thrive for the thrill of the fight and doesn’t crave this sort of challenge. No, his sort of challenge is just the one he’s about to solve. 

 

* * *

 

Jonathan’s hands shake as he turns another page in the spellbook, the dark cover and odd languages making it clear that it can be none other than Raven’s.  _ I did it. I actually did it.  _ His body trembles. He can’t  _ wait  _ until the others hear about this - and a part of him also can’t wait to (slightly) rub it in Nuclear Sis’ face that he did manage to break in. Knowing her, however, she will take it in stride as if she played a much bigger part in the plan, instead of just disabling everything she could and telling him good luck before scrambling out of there before he could get busted.

 

This is the one, he knows it. This will be the time that it works. It has to. This spell has so much more promise than the others. He looks it over carefully, scanning each line slowly. He reads and re-reads every mantra, every word that he can. Every circle, line and symbol has been drawn with a steady hand and a beating heart. He stands in the center in his full ensemble, his  _ Sunday best  _ so to say. Fear gas, in its liquid form, sits in bottles. Each bottle is in its own small circle that crosses with his all around it until there’s not an inch of his circle that doesn’t connect with a bottle. 

 

He can feel the itch beneath his skin, the craving to hear people scream with a primal fear as the light in their eyes fade to be replaced with a terrifying darkness. He won’t rest until he sees the heroes overtaken with their personal demons, falling to the ground before him.

 

He opens his mouth and the more words of the spell he speaks, the more it doesn’t even sound like his voice. It begins to grow more primal, deep, as it echoes through his lab, encasing him with its words. Despite not changing his tone, his voice seems to get louder as it’s growing closer and closer to him. He closes his eyes, the words reciting out of his mouth without him thinking about it. 

 

He doesn’t regret it even as the mantra swirls in his mind, twisting it, changing it into something else. The bottles around him break, the liquid fear gas pools to the floor and move toward him, burning through his clothes as it seeps into his skin, absorbing into him,  _ becoming a part of him.  _ He can feel the way that fear just flows through his veins.

 

He feels the way his body changes, growing and morphing. He becomes something out of someone’s nightmare, yet it’s his  _ dream. _ He feels it in his blood, in his heart,  _ his soul.  _ His  _ mind.  _ It is him and he is  _ it.  _

 

He is  _ Scarebeast. _

 

* * *

****

The outskirts of Gotham are quiet as the moon rises high against the starry sky. The silent peacefulness, caused by a lack of human interactment, is cut short by trees being ripped straight from the ground and thrown off as if it’s nothing more than a small twig. Dark silhouettes of crows sweep across the night in warning, looking like a mere shadow, blocking light from stars, as they let out ominous caws as if they’re calling for their master.

 

A beast rises from the horizon, letting out a monstrous roar. Demonic, neverending hell fire peaks through the holes and tears of a scarecrow-like mask that’s dark and rotten, tearing at its seams. Any clothing on its chest has torn away to reveal flesh that stretches thinly against a bony skeleton. Orifices rise out of its body, releasing a paralyzing fear toxin into the air around it. It lets out a frustrated, deafening scream that sounds like a million damned souls crying out from the depths of hell.

 

His mind feels foggy, blocked out by darkness. He hears nothing but the calls of his scare beasts, sees nothing but the potential fear he can cause and feels nothing but the toxin running through his veins. 

 

He raises his hand and the crows that soar against the sky grow large before all of Gotham and its outskirts are ripped from the light of the moon and stars, encasing the sky in a damning darkness. He takes a large, stomping step forward that leaves a small crater in the ground when his foot crashes upon it.

 

His eyes focus on Gotham and with each step he takes, he grows closer and closer to his destination. He will see the souls of the damned leave their bodies as fear encases them. 

 

He will watch the world tear itself apart as his toxin overtakes them all.

 

* * *

****

 

_ Interesting.  _ But interesting rarely means that it’s anything good. 

 

In the case of the beast tearing through the woods as if it’s wading through shallow water, the same beast making a straight line toward Gotham City and seems to be the cause of the darkness that has ceased the sky, it is interesting. Interesting in the fact that it is most definitely Jonathan Crane - the Jonathan Crane that, while vastly intelligent, is a rather weak individual in the sense that he would rather use his fear toxin than get into an intimate fist fight.

 

But it’s also definitely not anything good. He seems now deformed, mutated into something not only more serious, but something  _ bigger  _ and  _ stronger  _ than his previous persona, Scarecrow. Becoming more of a beast, one that not only seems to have control of his fear toxin but also have some magical base to it, than a man. Something about his appearance as a whole leaves an unsettling feeling, as if he strikes some sort of strange primal fear in a being by merely just existing. 

 

So no, Robin was not whelmed, not whelmed at all, when Batman brings up the video feed of the beast tearing through trees as if it were nothing. It’s not that he hasn’t taken down big bads before - in fact, he’s rather used to facing all sorts of villains that are are not only three to four times his size, but have powers to boot. It’s just… unnerving to see Scarecrow in this demonic form, it looks more like a nightmare-ish being that doesn’t belong in this world. 

 

But then he remembers that his job to take down all things that don’t belong here. 

 

“What caused him to change,” M’gann asks tentatively, looking at the screen with caution. 

 

Batman doesn’t quite seem to acknowledge the question, not even looking in her direction as he continues with a sort of answer, “As you’re all aware, last week, there was a break-in here at the mountain. No security footage was able to be recovered, but I have reason to believe that Jonathan, with minor help, was the one behind it.”   
  


“What’s the point of breaking in here if he didn’t try anything,” Superboy scoffs, “He didn’t even steal anything.”

 

“Wrong,” Raven takes a step forward, her voice cutting through the air like glass, shutting Superboy up quickly, though he grumbles a bit under his breath at the way she glares at him, “My spellbook was gone.”

 

Wally mouths the word  _ spellbook  _ to himself in a mocking manner, using air quotations as if the words don’t hold any real value - to him, they don’t. Cyborg nudges him hard enough to nearly knock him over, but he mutters an apology that Raven doesn’t even acknowledge. 

 

The screen in front of them and just behind Batman changes, footage of the beast is brought up on pause and zoomed in incredibly close. Among the hell like fire that tore through his mask is a dark aura that is eerily similar to Raven’s own aura. 

 

“We have reason to believe that Jonathan Crane stole the spellbook to turn himself into this monster,” Batman spoke.   
  


“Why would anyone turn themselves into such a horrible beast,” Starfire questions, her eyes showing just how wary she is about the situation. 

 

“To do what he’s always done,” Robin’s voice shows dawning as he puts it all together, “To spread fear.”

 

“My spell would have been too much for him to fully control,” Raven explains, “If he used it with his fear toxin, I wouldn’t be surprised if it backfired on him like this. But he probably can’t control his own actions beyond the objective of his spell - and in the case, if it was to spread fear, then he won’t have any other emotion or drive aside from making everyone scream.”

 

“Great, so if he can’t control it, then how are we supposed to stop him,” Cyborg crosses his arms against his chest tightly, “‘Specially if magic is involved.”

 

“I would have to know the exact spell he used and what symbols he chose for his incarnation circle,” Raven speaks flatly, “Considering he had a whole book of spells to choose from, not including the endless symbols he could have used, I don’t have much hope that I can undo it.”

 

The solemn tone of her voice carries heavy through the room. A beast that’s infused with magic and fear toxin doesn’t exactly  _ spell  _ good news. Kaldur looks between them with the type of peaceful seriousness that only a leader can possess in a calamity. Robin has a similar look, though his mind is going through the various ways they can possibly take him down since undoing the spell isn’t an option.

 

“What are our orders,” Kaldur finally asks.

 

“Raven, M’gann, Robin, Superboy, Cyborg, Kaldur, Starfire, neutralize the target before it reaches Gotham City.”

 

Those mentioned stand at attention, their backs stiff and their shoulders back, save for Raven who merely nods in understanding instead of standing like the soldier that they are expected to be. Robin stands the most tall, his head high as determination fills his eyes, causing her to sigh at his naivity that this will be an easy fix.

 

“Understood.”

****

* * *

 

The night is full of an odd peacefulness, a rare calm before a storm. Everything tonight has seemed to go exactly the way he wanted it to. Jason looks over the city’s skyline with a sigh, hanging his feet over the edge of a building roof. He’s already taken all he really wants tonight and he’s growing tired of just robbing some odd places here and there. 

 

Without any of the other gang members with him, everything went by quickly, effectively, smoothly, and  _ boring _ . He doesn’t hear any of Giganta’s latest gossip. Nothing is caught on fire per Firefly. Cheetah isn’t there to give some big speech about how he isn’t loyal enough to the team (and threaten to claw out his throat for it). Blackfire isn’t here to distract him with her beauty - though it is a welcome and  _ appreciated  _ distraction. Copperhead isn’t bitching about one thing or the other. Nuclear Sis isn’t trying out her latest gadget on him or one of the other members. Hell, Jonathan isn’t even here to make some poor night guard piss his pants. He’s beginning to genuinely miss those dumbasses… He  _ really  _ must be getting bored.

 

Something vibrates against his hip and he pulls out his phone. 

 

_ From: Big Sister _

_ Have you heard from Jon? I haven’t heard from him since last week. He said he and Nuclear Sis were going to break into Mount Justice. I’m scared he got caught.  _

 

_ Giganta.  _ Jason raises an eyebrow, the idea of Jonathan sneaking into Mount Justice is laughable, the idea of him and Nuclear Sis doing it is only slightly probable. But both of them doing it without telling him, however, is downright  _ insulting.  _ He sends a text to Nuclear Sis before replying back to Giganta’s message.

 

_ To: Baby Sister _

_ Wanna tell me what happened with you, Jonathan and Mount Justice?  _

 

_ From: Baby Sister _

_ Not really. Dumbass wanted to steal some spell book from that freaky goth chick  and I helped, got out of there after I disabled everything for him. Did he get his ass caught? _

 

He hopes not - that would be a pain in the ass and he’d likely be the one sent to bust him out. Considering he hasn’t heard anything from Luther and the lack of ‘ _ Scarecrow Arrested’  _ on the news, he doubts it.  _ But that would mean that son of a bitch actually got out without getting caught.  _ He doesn’t know if he should congratulate Jonathan or hit him over the head a few dozen times for doing something so stupid.  _ All for a stupid ass book, are you fucking kidding me Jonathan? _

 

_ To: Big Sister _

_ Nuclear Sis bailed quick, so she doesn’t know. Haven’t heard from Luther so I doubt he got caught.  _

 

It takes longer to get a reply this time, he almost worries.

 

_ From: Big Sister _

_ He said he was going in there to steal something that would help enhance his fear toxin. _

 

_ Shit.  _ They all know how Jonathan gets about his fear toxin. If he actually got something that he thought could enhance it, he wouldn’t leave his lab until he did it. It’s not usually a problem until it gets in the way of their missions from Luther or he forgets to do simple things like eat. And if he really did manage to steal some spell book from Raven, who knows what it actually did?

 

Jason is just about to reply when a thundering roar shakes the building. He almost thinks it’s an Earthquake until he sees the dark crows cast out the light of the night sky. He zips across the city, from roof to roof, until he reaches the outer east side where he can see nothing but woods. He begins to think that there’s nothing out of the ordinary until the trees begin to rumble, shaking out of the ground. Trees off in the distance get sent flying through the air. He can see the silhouette of something large off in the distance. 

 

_ Fuck.  _ That could mean trouble - for him - and considering that he doesn’t exactly have a lot to do now and a strange feeling in his gut tells him that it’s connected to Jonathan, he may as well check it out. Besides, something this big heading toward Gotham is bound to get Bats’ attention which means whatever it is out there, Robin and the other young heroes are bound to be there too. Which can prove to be  _ exciting. _

 

_ Mass Text To: Kitten, Hot Ass, Slytherin, Baby Sister, Big Sister, Garfield _

_ East outskirt of Gotham - we got trouble, the kids in tights will probably be there, let’s have some fun *devil emoji* _

 

But first, he has one small stop to make. 

 

* * *

****

Jonathan’s lab is a mess, even more so than usual. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, if Jonathan was experimenting again then Jason should have expected the worse - he’s pretty sure that this  _ is  _ the worse case scenario at any rate. Broken vails, liquid fear toxin soaking through the metal floor, and there’s not a single thing in its place. As if a tornado swept through it and destroyed all through its path. He looks toward a burned, charred floor that reeks of rust. Blood stains into the metal. A strange glyph forms a broken circle in the center.

 

_ Damn it, it just makes this harder.  _ He has to hurry. If Jonathan stole Raven’s spell book, combining one of her spells with his fear toxin, then it’s likely that she’d be the only one to undo whatever damage Jonathan did. But with a spell book that likely has hundreds of spells and combinations, then it’d be useless unless she knew which one that was used.

 

He spots a piece of paper, burned at its edges, in the middle of the glyph. A drawing of the glyph on the floor is at the top of it followed by a mantra that he won’t even try to decipher. 

 

He pockets it and hopes that it’s the right one.

 

* * *

 

The video footage doesn’t do it justice, but unfortunately, the young heroes don’t realize this until they’re already gaining up on the beast. They’re close enough to get an idea of what they’re against, but far enough that they still don’t quite realize the gravity of what it is that he’s capable of. They can still see his silhouette, showing just how large he is, and the idea that this is -  _ was? -  _ Scarecrow is hard to fathom. He casts a large dark shadow that threatens to swallow you whole if you stand within it, but it’s really the fire burning beneath the mask instead of his eyes that truly creates an unsettling, fearful sensation in their chest.

 

Robin pauses, his calculating eyes narrow as he looks over the situation carefully, his mind working like a supercomputer as he tries to pinpoint exactly what this - what would he be called?  _ Scarebeast? -  _ is capable of. The shadow creatures seem to be an unexpected byproduct of whatever magic Scarecrow infused with his toxin, he seems to have control of them. But his rampage is uncharacteristic of him, Robin wonders if Scarecrow -  _ Scarebeast, now -  _ is even capable of controlling himself as well as those creatures.

 

“What’s the saying,” Superboy looks to the others, a brow raised, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall?”

 

“It’s gonna take a lot more than just strength to make him fall,” Raven comments dryly, her aura already flaring up for protection.

 

“Wanna bet,” Superboy smirks. 

 

Raven rolls her eyes, but doesn’t take the taunt. She doesn’t need to bet anything to know that she’s right - she knows magic and she knows Scarecrow’s fear toxin. The idea of combining the two is a  _ frightful  _ notion.

 

“No bets,” Kaldur mildly scolds, “Raven is right. We have to play it smart, we don’t know what he’s fully capable of now.”

 

“He looks like he’s emitting fear toxin,” Robin notes, “We have to wear the masks if we want to even get close to him.”

 

Kaldur nods solemnly, “M’gann, do you sense anything from him?”

 

M’gann narrows her eyes as she focuses intently on the beast. It takes merely a moment for her eyes to go wide. An intense wave of fear, and all the things that create it, all that it is, hits her hard. A large force knocks her back to the ground, her head throbbing as tears build in her eyes. 

 

_ “M’GANN!” _

 

She looks to Superboy, who stares at her with fear and concern. She sees  _ fire. _ She sees him running through flames that she doesn’t remember being there, but feel too real. She can feel the heat of it brushing against her skin.  _ Burning, burning, burning.  _ Her skin feels hot as it begins to melt away.  _ Hot, burning, everything is on fire.  _ Her hold on her form slips as her true form manifests. White against red slips to the ground in a limp form. Superboy holds her, but she can’t feel him and she wonders if he’s really there.

 

_ Of course he’s not there,  _ a deep voice rumbles in the back of her mind,  _ why would he run to you little martian girl? Why would anyone? _

 

_ You’re right,  _ M’gann’s voice rings through the team’s mind. 

 

“Who’s right,” Kaldur takes a step forward, his weapons at the ready, “M’Gann, who are you talking to?”

 

Robin scrambles to the small devices in his belt, air filters that may limit their communication, but there are other ways to communicate. And he can’t communicate at all with an incapacitated team. 

 

“Take the masks,” Robin’s voice screeches into the night sky, “He’s onto us!”

 

The masks don’t reach them, falling just short as each of them let out pained screams, their minds feeling hot as if someone set a fire and is threatening to burn them alive from the inside out. They hear screaming, pained screams that sound oddly familiar. Superboy clutches M’gann closer, tighter. 

 

“M’gann, you have to break the mind link,” Superboy’s plead falls to deaf ears as M’gann clutches in agony in his arms.

 

Raven falls to the floor with pained, furrowed brows as she takes deep breaths. Her focus becomes blurry and uneven. She can’t concentrate with that much pain and fire burning in her mind. Her aura flares dangerously around her, creating a dark shadow raven that bursts forth from her with-  _ Azarath, metrion, zinthos.  _

 

The group breathes a sigh of relief as the mind connection from M’gann is severed, but Superboy glares toward Raven with accusation as M’gann still withers in his arms. 

 

“Scarecrow - he’s in her mind. He’s too powerful for me to -”

 

“ _ You my dear,”  _ Scarebeast’s voice roars around them and as they scramble to find him, they see nothing but darkness,  _ “You can call me Scarebeast.” _

 

They don’t have a chance to react, fear toxin spreading out through the air suddenly and quickly. In a coughing fit, they fall to the ground as they struggle to hold their breath, not daring to breath in the poisonous air around them.

 

Raven quickly forms a dome around all of them, but she struggles to hold it together as Scarebeast taunts her mind, pulling her concentration and emotions. Thin white lines begin to spread through the dome of darkness. A sickening crack rings through the air, Robin struggling to get the masks back before - 

 

The dome shatters, the toxin encasing them once again. Scarebeast enters their minds with ease, taunting them, fear overtaking them as they fall struggle to stay on their feet. #

 

* * *

****

_ Can’t breathe, too much smoke - it’s all too much.  _ M’gann screeches. Her body is too hot to the touch and smoke begins to fill her lungs. She feels like she’s burning from the inside out as flames warp around her. It gets harder and harder for her lungs to expand, her chest feeling tight. Her eyes bristle with tears as she struggles to see the smoke and flames, her vision being to become spotty and blurry before all she sees is black.

 

* * *

****

Demons release from Raven’s mind, seeming to be all around her as darkness overtakes her. Her father’s laughter rings through her ears and she sees four red eyes staring at her through a void.  _ It’s not real, it’s not real,  _ she repeats it like it’s her lifeline.

 

She reaches out to the others, but can feel Scarebeast scrambling all of their minds, trying to make them forget who they were facing, trying to make them even more convinced that what they’re seeing is their reality. She pushes through, trying to send a single thought out to the others -  _ It’s not real, remember that it’s not real -  _ and she hopes that it’s enough to remind them of what’s the real threat here. 

 

But even she struggles to see through the illusion of the toxin, but focuses all of her abilities toward pushing anyone that may be close to her - anyone who is  _ really  _ there - away from her, lest her powers lash out against them.

 

* * *

****

Raven is not the only one whose father haunts them.

 

Kaldur stares up at the face of a hellish manta, listening to how proud his father is of him, how much that they’re alike, that it’s time to accept his fate. It’s nothing he hasn’t heard before, yet this time it sounds more haunting, more serious. As if it’s more than just his father telling him and more of his own self conscious. As if some part of him is trying to convince the other that it’s all real, that he’s just as much of a villain as his father.

 

He feels sand beneath his feet that burn his soles as a hot sun beats down against him, making it harder to breath as he feels every water drop on him evaporate to the air. Yet his father remains unaffected from the blistering heat. 

 

_ Unaffected -  _ it clicks.  _ He’s not affected because he’s not here. I’m not here…  _ He struggles to put the pieces together, something scrambling his mind trying to make him forget, but he remembers enough. He remembers that this -  _ none of this - _ is real. 

 

_ “It’s not real,”  _ a familiar voice rings, “ _ remember that it’s not real.” _

 

* * *

****

Starfire’s cheek puff with the breath she holds as she stands her ground, her fists light up in a bright green blaze as she lets out a series of shots toward the dark scare creatures that start to surround them as Scarebeast continues toward the city. Her eyes burn brightly, tears bristling in the corners of her eyes. Her lungs, while stronger than a human’s, still don’t last long enough as she crumbles to the ground gasping for air. She looks up and through a fog, she sees her sister stalking toward her, unaffected by their surroundings. Blackfire’s fists light up in a blaze, her eyes staring down at Starfire with a cold, hard look that makes Starfire freeze, unable to move as her eyes widen. She feels her pulse beat rapidly within her chest as she loses her breath.  _ Sister... _

 

_ “I’ve been waiting a long time for this sister,”  _ her sister’s voice rings through the air in a distorted manner and her hand aims straight toward Starfire’s heart.

 

_ “It’s not real.”  _ Starfire wonders where Raven is and why she can only hear her. “ _ Remember that it’s not real.  _

 

* * *

 

Cyborg lasts the longest, his blast sending quite a few of the beasts away from them. Yet it seems that for each one he knocks out, two more take it’s place. They’re never ending. But his human side, the part that still needs to breath, gives in to quickly. He falls to the earth with a hard thud, creating a small crater around him. He blinks and opens his eyes to see the world in a tint of red - a tint he was used to, but only from  _ one  _ eye. 

 

He wonders why his sensors seem different and his body feels heavier, sturdier. He moves his arm and it takes a moment for it to respond and messages dance in front of his eyes like a computer screen.  _ No.  _ He runs to the closest metallic surface he sees, its surface shining so brightly that he sees his reflection too clearly. He puts a hand to his face, but he can’t even feel anything. No cold metal surface, but not any warm skin either. 

 

A robot stares back at him in horror. A pure, full robot that looks different, but familiar. He swears he feels his heart drop, but he doesn’t think he even has one anymore. 

 

_ “It’s not real, remember that it’s not real.” _

 

* * *

****

Superboy opens his eyes and sees a world of metal, screens and needles before glass. Tubes spread from him to out of a container that he was born in, spent the beginning of his life in. His mind is frantic to place memories and sees two. One of Superman, broken beneath him like a corpse. The other of a team that reaches their hand out to them when he’s down. He doesn’t know which one is real and he’s scared to know the answer.

 

_ “Congratulations, Project Kr. You’ve completed your mission. Superman is dead because of you, you should be proud.” _

 

He struggles against the tubes, but finds them to be too heavy like thick restraints grounding him to this scene. 

 

_ “It’s not real, remember that it’s not real.” _

 

* * *

****

Robin sees Scarebeast’s creatures around them, circling them as they draw close to their prey. It’s only a matter of time - his hand trembles as he reaches toward one of the fallen masks.  _ Almost there - I just have to -  _ his lungs burn for oxygen and his chest gives out, letting go of the breath he was holding. As he coughs, the reality around him bleeds away to an empty circus tent. A tent he knows too well. 

 

A bright spotlight shines brightly on two figures that dance through the air with a familiar grace.  _ Mom. Dad.  _ Robin stands hestiately, looking up at them with a deep pain his chest. He watches them for a moment, taking in the beauty of their movement before he moves, his feet running toward the large ladder that lead up to their podium stands where they land once they’re finished - where they  _ should’ve  _ landed.

 

“No,” Robin’s voice comes out as a course whisper, “No, stop! Get down from there - it’s not safe.”

 

He’s halfway up the ladder. He can see his mother’s eyes stare at him as she smiles as she soars. The smile drops as there’s a snap. His heart falls to the pit of his stomach. He stares in horror as he watches a scene that he already knew. He can’t look away as his mother looks to him as she falls. 

 

_ “You should’ve warned us sooner, my little robin.”  _

 

It takes him too long to hear a second voice, one that sounds familiar but far away like a distant memory. 

 

_ “It’s not real - remember that it’s not real.” _

 

But it was.

 

* * *

 

Scarebeast revels in the way that the heroes crumble like dust, like the worthless little worms that they are. The martian girl’s screams are louder than the caws of his crows. The half-robot is shut down as he faces his hell. The small Superman knockoff is fighting against something that’s not really there as Robin seems to be fighting tears. The waterboy is struggling to breath even more than the Martian as the alien girl cries as if someone ripped her heart out. 

 

He didn’t think it would be this easy, but with his new abilities, he is unstoppable. He is too power for anyone who may come in his way, but he’s most proud of the she-devil that’s on her knees before him as her aura flares around her to face her demons.

 

“ _ SCARECROW!” _

 

He lets out a roar as someone - multiple  _ someones -  _ sweep into the scene. Something in him tells him that he should know them, that they’re important, but a darker voice whispers through his mind that he has no friends, that it doesn’t matter who they are, that they - like the heroes, like everyone else,  _ like the world -  _ will  _ tremble with fear. _

 

* * *

****

 

Jason, lets out a low whistle as he takes in everything around him. It’s not exactly hard to miss the way the young heroes in tights are crumbled to the ground like nothing and a part of him is proud that his _boy_ was able to do that. That part would probably be a lot stronger if said _boy_ wasn’t rampaging through the woods like a maniac - well, a _bigger_ maniac than usual. Thankful for the air filters in his mask, and the fact that he was smart enough to give out masks _before_ showing up to this - unlike the apparent _so smart ‘heroes.’_

 

“Well, at least we know it’s Jonathan,” Copperhead hisses, though his eyes are focused on the ‘guys’ in tights.

 

Cheetah lets out a small purr of approval, her respect for the usually timid Jonathan rising as she sees the heroes in their current state.Though she tenses seeing the unfamiliar large form of Scarecrow and the dark beasts that are slowly gathering around them. She keeps a close eye on them, her body waiting to strike in case they make a move, but Scarecrow wouldn’t send his beasts after them…  _ would he?  _ And since when he could he do that in the first place? Is it effect of the spell?

 

Firefly’s  _ ‘oh shit’  _ doesn’t go unnoticed, he hovers a good few feet above the ground, taking in each hero in their distressed state with a mix of anger and pride. His buddy did that, but  _ he  _ should’ve been the one to take down the heroes.  _ He  _ should be the one that made them  _ burn. _

 

“That stupid neurotic kid took out all the heroes,” Firefly growls.

 

“Not to mention whatever that is,” Copperhead jabs his thumb toward the white martian that shrieks in pain and horror.

 

Blackfire hesitates, her eyes on her sister as her brows furrow. Jason watches her carefully, wondering if she’s going to run to her sister’s help or let her suffer. He has to admit he’s a bit curious to see what choice she is going to make. Blackfire takes a step forward before her lips thin and she stands her ground. Jason hums a bit in thought,  _ she never fails to surprise me. _

 

Nuclear Sis takes in a sharp breath, “I… didn’t think a simple spell book would make him like….  _ This.” _

 

Giganta, whose height towers over the toxin and reaches to the thinner oxygen levels, stomps her feet a bit in worry. The others yelp, cursing at her as the ground shake, causing her to let out a muffled apology. 

 

“Don’t worry, it’s still Jonathan,” Copperhead states as if it’s a fact, but his voice wavers as he looks at the larger, more intimidating form of Scarecrow, “He can be reasoned with…  _ Probably.” _

 

Jason gives a shrill whistle to get Scarecrow’s attention as he slowly saunters over, a swagger in his step and caution in his mind. Something tells him that it won’t be as simple as just  _ talking  _ it over. 

 

_ “SCARECROW!” _ __  
  


He lets out a yelp as Scarecrow turns to him and lets out a roar. 

 

_ “MY NAME IS SCAREBEAST!” _

 

Jason takes a step back at the fiery eyes that stare at him with no hint of recognition. A feeling of unease settles in his gut.  _ For once, why can’t things just go easily?  _ A hand rises, commanding the dark shadow beasts to swarm toward him and the others. 

 

He dodges a few large crows that sweep at him from the sky and lands on top of one of the other, more land-based creatures that at first glance, may be mistaken for a deer. Yet deer don’t have an endless void of darkness for a body nor are they size of a moose, but their eyes are a hellish fire that stare like death itself. Somehow they, in themselves, are unsettling and sends goosebumps down his arms. 

 

“What the fuck,” Jason shouts, “We just want to talk!”

 

_ ‘I don’t want to hear you talk,’  _ a dark voice rings through their minds, causing them to tense,  _ ‘I want to hear you scream.’  _

 

Cheetah lets out a snarl as she tears through the beasts that leap toward her. Her claws digging into flesh that doesn’t bleed as she tosses them away from her, her arms burning with restrain from the weight. Copperhead’s tail wraps around the ones that she misses and tosses them to toward a growing pile of limp corpses. 

 

Firefly lets out shouts as fire blasts from him to the beasts, but Jason is mildly impressed that he’s at least keeping it somewhat controlled so the whole forest doesn’t burn up. The last thing they need is a forest fire to worry about on top of all of this.

 

Blackfire shoots rapidly at the beasts near her and shoots a few that leap toward Giganta, but as her eyes drift back to her sister, a beast tackles her from the side. She lets out a scream as she feels claws dig into her shoulders. She struggles to raise her arms enough to blast a hole straight through the beasts’ chest.

 

Nuclear Sis struggles, but is able to hold her own enough to survive - for now. But she’s not sure how long she can last with this many beasts. She can’t unleash any nuclear power, not with the others so close by. She tries to focus her blast waves only on the beasts, but it won’t take long before she loses her control.

 

Giganta shrieks as multiple beasts go for her legs and crows swoop at her head, she shakes the ones on her body off, but each bite leaves decent wounds on her legs.  _ Shit, if I go back to regular size, I’ll bleed out.  _

 

“Jonathan,” she screeches, “Jonathan! It’s us! Please!”

 

“No use, Giganta,” Jason reasons, cursing a storm, “That spell fucked up his head, at this rate, he’s about more fucked than Joker.” 

 

His eyes narrow as he dodges another beasts and sends red x’s to capture the ones he jumps off, trapping them to the ground. He looks toward the others and his lips thin at the way that they struggle against the beasts. Even with the toxin not affecting them, he can feel Scarebeast press in the back of his mind, forcing a fight or flight response in his system as if he’s scared for his life. The adrenaline makes his heart beat rapidly against his chest as he tries to focus on a way to get Jonathan back.

 

His eyes are drawn to the darkness that lashes out toward anything that gets close to her -  _ Raven.   _ If it was her spell book that caused this mess, then she can get them out of it. She’ll know how to undo it. His eyes glance toward Robin and Starfire. If they get Starfire, then he knows that Blackfire will actually focus on the situation instead of own her sister - no matter how much she wants to deny it, he sees the way her eyes keep going to her sister in worry. If he gets Robin, well, he can hold the fact that he ‘saved’ his ass over that little bird’s head. And as heroes, their first objective would be stopping the beast before trying to catch any of them. If he gets them to help them just get Jonathan back to normal, it would be a piece of cake to escape before they take them all to Arkham. Or worse, Belle Reve. 

 

He makes a run for Blackfire, she jumps and looks at him with confusion when he places a small air filter in her hand, “Get your sister.”

 

“Firefly, don’t burn the forest,” Jason shouts, “Keep your blasts aimed toward the beasts. Imagine that they’re me if you have to!”

 

Firefly smirks, but listens as his blasts become a bit more focused on their targets. Jason nods, satisfied, and runs through the tormented heroes with ease. He puts a mask on Robin as he runs by and heads straight toward Raven, dodging her magic that lashes out toward him.

 

“Tell me that you have a reason for going for the heroes,” Cheetah snarls.

 

“If her spell book caused this, she can fix it.”

 

“And Robin,” Cheetah presses, but Firefly lets out a snort.

 

“Oh come on, kitty, that one’s obvious. If he saves Robin, that bird will never live it down.”

 

* * *

 

 

Starfire takes in a deep breath, coughing to shake fluid from her lungs as reality slowly bends back into existence. Her vision is blurry, but she sees her sister staring down at her, but unlike the fear-toxin induced nightmare, there is no cold hearted murder in her sister’s eyes, just a resigned sense of caring. As her vision slowly focuses, she makes out her sister’s hand reaching toward her to help her up. 

 

“Sister,” Starfire coughs, but Blackfire rolls her eyes.

 

“No shit, don’t let this get to your head, I still hate you.”

 

Robin is quicker to gain his senses, but still doesn’t understand just who - his eyes fall on Red X.  _ Of course it is.  _ He doesn’t miss the way Red X gives him a little two finger salute and he’s sure that the villain is grinning beneath his mask. 

 

Raven, however, takes longer to come back, struggling to gain control of her emotions and her powers. Unlike the others, she doesn’t gasp desperately for air, but instead takes in slow, precise breaths that slows the adrenaline and fear that coursed through her. She stands and raises an eyebrow at the villains that have joined them.

 

“After we take Scarebeast down, you’re next,” Robin threatens, though they don’t seem particularly bothered by it.

 

“Sure you will,” Blackfire rolls her eyes, “But let’s focus on one thing at a time, shall we?”

 

“We kinda hoped you that you would know how to undo the spell,” Nuclear Sis looks toward Raven, “He stole your spell book, didn’t he?”

 

“I need to know the spell he used otherwise -”

 

Jason slips a paper in her hand and she stops. He winks, even though he knows that she can’t see it. 

 

“Snagged this little baby before coming by, think it will do the job?”

 

Raven looks it over briefly before nodding, “Stall him, it will take time to gather the magic needed to undo this big of a spell. And I can’t promise that he will be one hundred percent back to normal either.”   
  


“Eh, so he has a side effect or two,” Jason shrugs, “We all have our issues.”

 

Her lips thin, not wanting to say that it won’t be as simple as  _ ‘having some issues.’  _ If she succeeds, there’s no telling how much power he will retain permanently - or if his sanity will return. She supposes as long it brings him down, it won’t matter much. He’ll be locked up by the time this is over. 

 

Robin looks toward the others, but the masks that he once tried to hand out are destroyed - burned by Firefly’s attacks on the beasts, no doubt. He grits his teeth at the idea of leaving them in agony, but hopefully this will end soon enough.

 

“Fine, Firefly, Starfire, Blackfire, use your attacks on Scarebeast, but keep your distance. Nuclear Sis, aim for the beasts at Giganta’s legs while she goes for the ones in the air. Red X, Copperhead, Cheetah, you’re with me. We’ll keep the beasts away from Raven while she focuses.”

 

“It’s funny how you think we answer to you,” Copperhead hisses, but Jason raises a hand to stop him.

 

“We’re not answering to him, we’re saving Jonathan and bringing back.”

 

That gets the others to, mostly, keep quiet about their complaints as they do as instructed by the Boy Wonder. Cheetah and Copperhead join him on the ground with Robin as Raven floats a few feet in the air with her legs crossed, repeating her usual mantra in between verses of something he’s never heard before. He hopes that whatever she is doing, however, will work. 

 

“Sister,” Starfire shoots a large blast toward Scarebeast that gets his attention, drawing him away from the city as he lets out a roar, “Isn’t it nice to be fighting side by side?”

  
“Yeah, it’s real  _ swell,”  _ Blackfire huffs and Firefly laughs as the sarcasm goes right over Starfire’s head, who takes her sister’s comment too literally and lets out a joyous laugh despite the situation around them.

 

“Does she ever stop,” Firefly asks as Starfire continues to let out joyous shouts of victory with every hit. Blackfire nods negatively, causing him to curse, “What a fucking pain.”

 

_ “You really think you can stop me,”  _ Scarebeast screeches,  _ “I am a god of all that is terror. I am your living nightmare.” _

 

“Jonathan, you’re becoming a real living  _ ass, _ ” Giganta snaps, causing Nuclear Sis to snort. 

 

Scarebeast turns to her, rising his hand about to attack, but hesitates. Magic presses against the back of his mind, pressing into his chest, and the red tinted vision from the flames of hell start to diminish as he stumbles on his feet. 

 

“It’s working, Raven,” Robin shouts, “Keep going!”

 

The opposing magic grows stronger as he wobbles. His beasts start to dwindle in numbers, the ones who die not coming back and new ones refusing to form. He can feel the toxin releasing from him becoming thinner,  _ weaker.  _

 

_ “No,”  _ his voice lacks the darker, demonic echo, “ _ No, I can’t be defeated, I can’t…” _

 

Pain shoots through his body as his bones begin to break and reform, forcing him to become smaller and smaller, his muscles weakening as his body grows thin. His head throbs with pain, but his mind becomes clearer. 

  
“What did I… What did I do…?”   
  


“You caused way too much trouble, is what you did,” Blackfire snaps, “We barely saved your ass.”

 

Raven comes back to the ground, her work complete, but she eyes Scarecrow with caution, waiting to see what will become of him, if he retrains any of the abilities caused by the dark magic that he carelessly threw himself into. Starfire rushes to the others as they begin coughing and regaining consciousness, slowly coming to their senses. Firefly yelps when the white alien slowly begins to form a more recognizable Miss Martian, _ if that’s what she really looks like then I’m glad that she can shapeshift, fuck that. _ Superboy rushes to her, not phased by the transformation as he holds her close. 

 

Jason watches the heroes slowly come to and takes a step forward, it’s best if they make their escape now before all of them are back at full power. Blackfire and Giganta are still injured, Nuclear Sis is on the brink of breaking, and even he can feel the fatigue from the battle reaching him. 

 

“Well this was fun and all, but we have places to be and things to steal. Beat you later,  _ heroes.” _

 

He makes a signal to the others and they prepare for what’s to come, getting into position for their escape. A flash grenade hits the ground and blinds the heroes as they run off toward the city, Giganta taking large leaps that shake the ground.

 

Jason grabs Jonathan and puts him on his back as he runs, knowing that he’s in no state to run for himself. Jonathan weakly watches the heroes scramble behind Jason’s back before they disappear into the distance.

 

“So you broke into Mount Justice, huh,” Jason asks, causing Jonathan to nod, “And all you did was steal a stupid book. No wonder Firefly makes fun of you. You’re a fucking dumbass.”  
  



End file.
